[CarveOne]

Lookin' pretty good, Carve.

But I still think you're making a CNC aircraft carrier. Of course that's probably just because I don't have that kind of space.

Well, you know how it goes. First you build a work shop, then you proceed to pack it full. Then you either expand it or build another one. I never had a place that I could build anything on before so I'm going hog wild every chance I get.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Ahhh I love the smell of slag in the morning!

CarveOne, What kind of welder you have (I assume it's a MIG). I have a tiny MIG welder but can't get anywhere near a decent weld no matter what wire speed or power setting I use...

I have a Miller 175 MIG. 0.030" Lincoln wire spool. 90 pound cylinder of the usual argon/co2 gas mix. It is set for 220vac 1 phase input. If your welder has a 220vac jumper option it is well worth adding an outlet and new pigtail for it. It will deliver more current to the welds. I'm actually running mine off of a homemade 25 foot extension cord I made when I bought it 8 years ago but this is the first time I have needed to use it. It's 10AWG flexible stranded power cord and 50 amp rating connectors. I have an outlet at the entrance door right below the breaker panel but not one at the garage door due to the 45 foot wiring needed to put it there. All other times I weld stuff outside the entrance door on the concrete pad.

I'll back off of the feed rate some more on the next assembly. I find that the chart for this welder tends to recommend a higher feed rate than it normally needs. The sound should be like a constant frying noise and not a random sputtering. The gas flow is important also. Too much and you waste gas, too little and you don't get clean looking welds. The wire should be cut about 3/16" from the end of the brass torch shroud. Maintain that distance while welding a joint. Keep the torch nozzle and the inside of the shroud clean and use a lube that prevents anything from adhering to the shroud.

The volts seem to be about right on this build effort, and penetration looks acceptable for DIY work. The beads are piling up a little thicker than they need to. I have trouble following the joint due to fogged helmet lens and not being able to see the end of the joint sometimes.

CarveOne

[R L Harris]

Looking good CarveOne!

[CarveOne]

Late last evening after the work shop cooled down to a tolerable level I cut some 1/2-13 all-thread rod to 2-3/4" lengths and assembled them to the foot plates with nuts and a washer. I was thinking of welding the bottom nut that will be against the floor to the end of the all-thread rod but I will probably just use JB Kwik epoxy instead. The two nuts against the foot plate will be the adjustment nuts.

I have a buddy coming over early Saturday morning to help with completing the lower shelf assembly. When that is finished we will move the existing work table CNC machine into the middle of the work shop to make room to assemble the new steel table assembly in its final resting place. The table saw extension will be removed from the saw to increase available working room while all of this activity is happening.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

I was away from home for much of the day on personal business so I tried to make up for it a little by epoxying the nuts onto the all-thread feet.

Then I started setting up the perimeter tubes for the lower shelf. This one gave me more trouble to get "square" than the first one. Two plus hours later I was too pooped out from making at least 40 trips around the work benches that they rest on to take a photo, and it looks just like the table top frame did anyway.

Welding will start at ~7am (if I wake up by then).

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

My helper arrived just after 7am and I was already working on the lower shelf assembly. By 10:30am the assembly was completed with the exception of one filler tube. I have to buy another 6' tube from Fastenal on Monday and cut it to length. We flipped the assembly over before he left and I will weld the remaining 18 short joints and grind them flat - after taking a rest break.

This thing will start coming together next week and the size will become more apparent in the photos. Before assembling the major parts, it needs to be cleaned with solvent and spray painted. I may be able to paint the table top assembly today.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Here is a photo of today's efforts. One filler tube is missing and will be added on Monday. Now I need to figure out which is the best way to assemble the legs to the two pre-assembled frames and do some rearranging of stuff in work shop so I can do the final assembly in the place that will be its permanent home.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

No, that one filler tube won't wait until Monday. I couldn't stand it, so I looked at my cut off pieces of 1x2 box tube to see if I could butt join two pieces straight enough. The longest piece I had was 42.5" after squaring the ends. I used the shortest piece I had and it was long enough to make a 53.25" length with about 5" to spare. So I cheaned the ends with the angle grinder and 34 grit flap sanding disk and used it to grind a small 45 degree bevel on the ends of the tubes that were going to be butt joined. I set it up in a smooth jaw woodworking vise and clamped another piece of 1x2 to it to insure that the tubes remain straight while welding. In no time at all I had the joint welded and ground flat. It is as straight as any of the other tubes as far as I can tell. Then I cut the joined tube to length and welded it in place. Job finished! Saved about $25 by not having to buy another 6' tube and then cut it down.

The work shop temperature was 98F while I was doing this. No more work to be done out there today.

CarveOne

[.xXACEXx.]

lookin good carve,

on your work table build did you ever get it to pocket without the step over problem? jest wondering goood luck with the new build!!

[CarveOne]

lookin good carve,

on your work table build did you ever get it to pocket without the step over problem? jest wondering goood luck with the new build!!

It's a Windows computer problem. I just haven't taken the time to start tossing out software that uses interrupts (like anti-virus and automatic updates) and quit trying to use it for internet access. I can run the file I used to cut the aluminum on either of my machines using EMC2 with no step-over problems, even on the same computer that is also the Windows computer (it's dual boot). That also says that the pport card is working fine. I'll get back to work on it after I get the steel frame upgrade completed. One major thing that may be needed is to toss Vista Business Edition that came with the new Acer computer and put XP Pro on the HDD.

CarveOne

[R L Harris]

No, that one filler tube won't wait until Monday. I couldn't stand it, so I looked at my cut off pieces of 1x2 box tube to see if I could butt join two pieces straight enough. The longest piece I had was 42.5" after squaring the ends. I used the shortest piece I had and it was long enough to make a 53.25" length with about 5" to spare. So I cheaned the ends with the angle grinder and 34 grit flap sanding disk and used it to grind a small 45 degree bevel on the ends of the tubes that were going to be butt joined. I set it up in a smooth jaw woodworking vise and clamped another piece of 1x2 to it to insure that the tubes remain straight while welding. In no time at all I had the joint welded and ground flat. It is as straight as any of the other tubes as far as I can tell. Then I cut the joined tube to length and welded it in place. Job finished! Saved about $25 by not having to buy another 6' tube and then cut it down.

The work shop temperature was 98F while I was doing this. No more work to be done out there today.

CarveOne

Good job CarverOne on that spliced piece looks just fine to me!
Can hardly stand wait to see it up and running!

[CarveOne]

Good job CarverOne on that spliced piece looks just fine to me!
Can hardly stand wait to see it up and running!

I knew the procedure for doing a butt join like that, having read it in a welding manual, but had never tried it before. It filled in the bevels nicely and the photos show a fully welded joint. I really have not seen much in the way of "pulling" distortions of the metal due to welding heat. Looks like this won't turn into a pretzel after all.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

While cleaning up the gray steel powder that was all over everything from grinding the welds flat I raised the lower shelf assembly to a vertical position and tied it to the garage door hanger post to stabilize it. That really showed off the size of this thing in a different perspective, so I took a photo for you guys. The outside sunlight in the yard made the photo dark but you can see what I mean.

CarveOne

[FandZ]

While cleaning up the gray steel powder that was all over everything from grinding the welds flat I raised the lower shelf assembly to a vertical position and tied it to the garage door hanger post to stabilize it. That really showed off the size of this thing in a different perspective, so I took a photo for you guys. The outside sunlight in the yard made the photo dark but you can see what I mean.

CarveOne

It almost looks like you are a prisoner of your work.

[R L Harris]

It almost looks like you are a prisoner of your work.

We are all prisoners of the cnczone LOL!

[bobsch]

We are all prisoners of the cnczone LOL!

Ain't that the truth!

[CarveOne]

It almost looks like you are a prisoner of your work.

That may be very close to reality. The pace has been working on me, and I'm mostly "coasting" today, praying that the home air conditioner doesn't crap out.

I'll probably go out there later in the evening and move some things around in preparation for moving the work table CNC machine.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

We are all prisoners of the cnczone LOL!

You said in an earlier post here that we can log out but we can never leave. What happens when we can't log in again? Do we then go insane while forever trying to get back in?

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Ain't that the truth!

I agree!

CarveOne

[R L Harris]

You said in an earlier post here that we can log out but we can never leave. What happens when we can't log in again? Do we then go insane while forever trying to get back in?

CarveOne

We will be lost and confussed forever!